Dress-protector



J. M. HASKELL.

(No Mode-1,

DRESS PROTECTOR.

No. 345,970. Patented July 20, 1886.

IN VENTOR. 772/,

ATTORNEYS.

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UNITED STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

JENNY M. HASKELL, OF GREENW'IOH, NElV YORK.

DRESS-PROTECTO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lette s Patent No. 345 970, dated July 20, 1886.

Application filed October 22, 1895. Serial No. 180,619. No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JENNY M. HASKELL, of Greenwich, in the county of Washington and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Dress-Protectors, of which the following is a description.

My invention is an improvementin the class of dress'protectors known as dressshields, the same consisting of pieces of thin waterproof material, suitably shaped to adapt them to fit and be worn comfortably in the axillary cavities next the skin, or an under-garment for the purpose of preventing perspiration from coming in contact with the overgarments at those points.

It is the usual practice for ladies to secure such shields to the dress by sewing, or by metal clasps specially constructed for the purpose. The objections to these methods are obvious, and well known to all whohave made use of them. An improvement has been attempted by providing the shields with long pendent and lateral extensions,and connecting the latter in front and rear by elastic cords passing through eyelctcd holes, as illustrated in Patent No. 267,202.

Dress shields have also been connected by a single elastic band sewed to their front and rear edges. But in neither case has the result proved satisfactory. It is requisite that the shields shall not only be held securely in place and without puckering or wrinkling. but the harness or means employed to thus secure them must be simple, also comfortable to the wearer, and adapted to be'easily applied and removed.

To supply an obvious want in this direction, I have devised the invent-ion hereinafter described, which, briefiy stated, consists of a light comfortable harness composed of elastic and non-elastic straps, and which may be readily applied to the shields in common use, and will hold them securely in place without discomfort or any annoyance to the wearer, yet permits them to be quickly detached, as occasion may require.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a like view, showing itapplied to the human person.

The letters A A indicate the Ganfield dressshields, which are well known andin common use by ladies in this country. The harness by which they are secured to the person consists, mainly, of the following parts: first, two parallel elastic straps, B G, which, in practice, connect the shields A A and extend across the shoulders of the wearer; second, .two non-elastic straps, D D, each of which is attached to an end of strap B, and to opposite sides of a shield, A,so as to pass over the r shoulder at the joint, extending thence across the body and tying to the other strap D, in front of same; third, two small elastic bands, E E, each of which is joined to a strap D, and connects opposite edges of the lower portion of a shield, so as to pass across the arm of the wearer; and, fourth, ofstraps,F at' tached to the back and lower portions of the shields for the essential purpose of drawing such portions downward and holding them stretched smooth. or, in other words. preventing them from sliding up and pnckcring, so as to become annoying to the wearer. The elasticity of straps B O permi sthe free movement of the shoulders, which is indispensable to comfort in wearing the harness. The upper strap, B, is preferably made broader and stronger than C, so as to take the main portion of the strain. The bands E E are also made elastic, in order to adapt them to arms of different sizes, and to enable them to hold the shields stretched smooth underneath the arms. The s raps extend a short distance down the front edges of the shields, so that when tied or buckled across the bosom they will draw the lower edge of the shields forward and prevent puckering or w inkling.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- The combination, with the shields A A, of the connected parallel elastic back straps,B O, the separated non elastic front straps, D D, attached to the latter and to the shields, the elastic arm bands E E, and the straps F F, made separate from each other and attached to the lower back portions of the shields, so

as to be adapted to tie in front of the body of the wearer, as shown and described.

J EN NY M. I-IASKELL.

Witnesses:

A. B. COLE, L. M. LORDELL. 

